Panasonic to ship Blu-ray writer in June

Doesn't come cheap

A Panasonic internal Blu-Ray Disc writer will ship in June, the electronics giant has said, but like the similarly spec'd models announced by IO Data, the LF-MB121JD isn't going to come cheap.

The Panasonic unit will read BD, DVD and CD media, and be capable of writing BD-R, BD-RE, DVD±R/RW (single and dual-layer), DVD-RAM and CD-R/RW discs. The drive can cope with 25GB and 50GB Blu-ray media, but while it will undoubtedly read DVD-ROM discs, you won't be able to play BD movies unless you have suitable software.

Panasonic certainly isn't bundling any such code, curiously, even though it plans to include PowerDVD for DVD viewing. It will also bundle back-up software that will write to BD-R/RE discs, it said.

Panasonic has already said its consumer-oriented Blu-ray Disc player, the DMP-BD10, will ship in September for "under $1,500".

The manufacturer said it was not naming a price for the LF-MB121JD, but local reports expect it to retail for around ¥100,000 ($851/£477/€689). ®